The Stolen Starlet

On to Hollywood! Bright lights, big city, that's where I wanna go... And recent chat between Betty and movie star Lana Cooper who wants to get out of a boring movie contract, presents Nathan Zachary with the opportunity to spread wings over Hollywood and score a hit against Johnny Johnson! The action in this mission is expected to amaze you and make you feel like an aviator starring in a "rescue mission" movie! But beware of security gyros and the dreaded Hollywood Knights that will certainly give you a hard time!

Recommended Plane
One option if you need armor-endurance for this mission, is Firebrand with full armor (60 units all), single 70.cal gun, single 50.cal for turret gunner, 6 hardpoints with Flak or HE and the highest nitro-boost engine you can afford for this plane's heavy weight.

Another option if you are an above average pilot and want to be more maneuverable, is Fury with 15-25 units of armor, two guns (.70 and .50) because you'll be wasting a lot of ammo in this mission, and 2-3 hardpoints with HE. This setup can chase Hoplites more than effectively with tight turns (low throttle) and also can destroy Firebrands in head-ons pretty quickly (with the .70 cal gun and rockets).

Walkthrough
As you start out, you are mistaken as a stuntman for a movie and you are directed to follow another stunt plane through a series of stunts (3). The first is a Hollywood sign's "O" directly in front of you. The second is the Egyptian arch ("Ramses Tomb"). The last stunt is through the rock arch in the bay ("Seastack"). If you stayed close to the other plane through the last stunt they'll think you're a great pilot and leave you to your business. If you lagged behind or missed a stunt, they realize you're an imposter and sent the hoplites after you early!

A great stategy at the point where you have successfully navigated all stunts, is to turn immediately around and head to the seaplane hangar (where the Spruce Goose is on a later mission). There you will see 4 hoplites standing in the ground (you can use the "friend" target and the hoplites appear as green-friendly!). Fly in the lower throttle you can in the same direction they are facing (behind them), and destroy at least one of them. After you destroy one, the others will take off at slow speed and you should be able to bring down another one with rockets (if you are placed exactly behind them). So, 2 down before they can even hurt you! You can also follow this strategy early on, before you make the stunts, but you have to do it a little faster.

After you deal with the autogyros (or before if you prefer), lower your speed and blast the main studio gate facing the main area of Hollywood, to trigger Lana's limo (it's really funny to hear Jack beat the security guys up). This will also trigger police cars to form the first roadblock by the studio sets road. Clear it by slowly diving towards the cars and shooting, but beware not to waste too much ammo or rockets since there is no hurry and they can't shoot back. Next obstacle you have to clear for the limo is another iron gate near the roadblock you destroyed. At this point 4 Furies will be coming in from the East, and you have to take them out and avoid getting too much damage, because there are more planes to fight yet. Last obstacle for the car is another roadblock at the foot of Hollywood hills. There are 4-5 Police cars that you have to destroy with the same method as the first roadblock. It is highly recommended to clear the roadblock after you finish off all of the Furies, because this last obstacle triggers the appearance of 4 Hollywood Knights Firebrands and a Hollywood Knights Firebrand Ace (Charlotte Steele) from the North! Don't worry though because these planes are slow and heavy, and if you can get a steady bead on them with the .70s they should go down in about 3-4 seconds. Unfortunately, the Firebrands destroy your getaway plane (no way to prevent this) and you'll have to do a "ladder trick" to pick up Ms. Cooper, just like the train from "The Pilfered Prototype" mission. As they're going down the hill, fly steady, level, close to the limo and slow, and the FMV showing Lana Cooper grab the ladder should show up. Funny thing here, is that if you look back while in cockpit view, you will see Lana Cooper's face clearly as she sits on the back seat! Now all that's left is to dock with the Pandora.

Stunts
Landscape Stunts: Studio Sets Stunts: Hollywood Sign Stunts:
 * 1) "Seastack" (Rock arch in the sea)
 * 2) "Trestle Bridge" (By the Hollywood Sign Hill)
 * 1) "Ramses Tomb" (Egyptian Set)
 * 2) "New York Street" (NYC Set)
 * 3) "Bridge-South Spar"
 * 4) "Bridge-North Spar"
 * 1) Hollywood Sign Letter "H"
 * 2) Hollywood Sign 1st Letter "O"
 * 3) Hollywood Sign 2nd Letter "O"
 * 4) Hollywood Sign 3rd Letter "O"
 * 5) Hollywood Sign Letter "D"